Reviewer: Miranda Fave Signed [Report This]
Date: 18 Nov 2009 22:39 Title: Chapter Three - Part Two

Shaughnessy is a terror! I like him from this early stage. Something a little roguish about him I think. But Beth's last line to him at the ned is something of an understatement. Nice to see Admiral Riker giving a little affirmation to Beth about her crew - that's always good. Also his showing the appreciation about the motto and of course the link back to Picard is nice. It was probably a given but the more I see Riker through your eyes the more I understand that even though it might be a given that he appreciates you or something you've done he'll make a point of thanking you and letting you feel good about yourself. Very much an admirable trait and more in the world should be like that. All too often little things like that go unsiad and felt to be a given, an unnecessary thing to say. Riker is not quite of that mold and it seems Beth is very much following in his footsteps.

We get a mention here of Beth's troubled career in regards the familial ties getting her a leg up in her career. I think in fairness it has helped - but only in so much that she was molded by stellar officers and given invaluable experience and insight. But it seems that her sister has played a role in casting a shadow over it too. I wonder how much it impacted on Troi and Riker's careers. That said, we are only learning of the traitor and little is known [though I have a little foreknowledge but not enough to ruin things for me luckily - squee!] about what she did exactly and what were the ramifications. So I'm very intrigued to follow this thread of the story, which I assume will be a great big story arc. Yay!

Author's Response: Again - one thing I think is consistent about the Riker character, even in the Titan books. He's very approachable and his command style is MUCH less rote than Picard's. He's gracious and giving and gets a lot in return from his crew because of it. Beth was bound to pick that up - not just from Riker, but from Deanna as well. Beth's familial ties are both a blessing and a curse. She learns from the best yes - but it always in the sites of those who weren't as lucky as she...and there's a LOT of people who resent her...especially after Cassidy defected. As yes...Cassidy is revealed little by little in this tale. A little more in Bill's book - but she'll have 2 books of her own after that. :)